Fantasy Football Week Three's IDPs Starts & Sits

By Sean Haugh, IDP specialist at Fantasy Football Maniaxs

Another week of Fantasy Football is upon us. Who will make the cut to start and who will ride the bench in the Individual Defensive Players world in Week Three?

Start of the Week

DE Trent Cole: Some of us have been waiting for Philadelphia’s Trent Cole to return to Pro Bowl form. I started his whopping two points last week and wondered what happened. 

You’d think with cross-state rival Pittsburgh coming to town, the misery of Cole and his owners might continue, but as good as the Steelers have been, they still have allowed Ben Roethlisberger to be sacked five times already. 

That total will almost certainly rise significantly on Sunday. Expect Cole to be part of the party.

Defensive Ends to start

This may be more waiver-wire advice than who to start, to be honest. As I’ve mentioned before, rookie defensive ends are always a dicey fantasy proposition. Yet still early on, they show flashes of their brilliance and their consistent production in the years to come.  Anyone who saw what Chris Long did last week knows what I’m talking about.

Three rookie defensive ends worth stashing away on deeper IDP dynasty rosters now all have most favorable matchups this week.

Seattle’s Lawrence Jackson is busy erasing the stigma of being a USC product and keeping Darryl Tapp on the bench. I expect him to eat the hapless Rams alive.

Jacksonville sports the other two, Derrick Harvey and Quentin Groves. I was down on Harvey, due to his long holdout, but I woke up when he had an interception in game one. 

Neither of these rookies will see starter minutes just yet, but both have already produced some fantasy stats. We have seen how Indianapolis struggles against DEs so far this year, which give another opportunity for the future of the Jaguars’ defensive line to strut their stuff.

Detroit’s Dewayne White has been a pleasant surprise so far. His coach Rod Marinelli predicted “double digit” sacks from him this year, and White has yet to let him down.  Expect him to maintain his scoring pace during the 49ers’ visit to his fair city.

Linebackers to start

Sticking with the Detroit-San Francisco matchup, Ernie Sims is also worth keeping in your lineup. It’s a sad commentary on the 49ers that they are the only team after two games to have allowed 100 points or more to both defensive ends and linebackers.

Coming into the season, many opined that New England’s defense would be just one too many years older. However, the old guys have apparently found another gear, and this week they will enjoy hosting the Dolphins and kicking Bill Parcells while he’s down. Teddy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel would both be nice spot starts.

David Harris of the Jets was supposed to be a can’t miss, top-five linebacker, but he hasn’t reminded us yet why we gave him so much preseason love. San Diego is changing up their running game but certainly not abandoning it, and I have faith that this is the opportunity Harris needs to reestablish himself as a top IDP option.

Defensive Backs to start

A couple of passing games in desperate need of repair belong to Jacksonville and Seattle.  Take advantage of their misfortune, their wounded ducks, their balls forced into coverage, and their ill-advised deep heaves and start Indianapolis’ Marlin Jackson (especially now that Colts' starting safety Bob Sanders is out four to six weeks with a high ankle sprain) and St. Louis’ Oshiomogho Atogwe.

I keep coming back to Detroit at San Francisco for good reason. It will be an epic cripple fight, which means potential big points for all involved. In this case, it’s the Lions who allow defensive backs to light up the fantasy scoreboard. This bodes well for Michael Lewis and Nate Clements.

Sit of the week

LB Freddie Keiaho: Folks are starting to stand up and take notice of the young Colt. If Keiaho is available on your waiver wire, run, do not walk, to your computer and pick him up right now.

He’ll make you very happy most weeks, very soon, and for many years. Nevertheless, the anemic Jacksonville running game doesn’t give opposing linebackers all that much to work with. Let Keiaho take a breather this week.

Defensive Ends to sit

This is one of the few times I would ask you to consider sitting a stud. As we have seen already in abundance this year, even the most fearsome defensive ends can give you the goose egg. Dallas handled my Start of the Week Trent Cole just fine, and I expect they can just as easily contain Green Bay’s Aaron Kampman.

Denver is also a team that so far has held your fair to middlin’ options at defensive end in check. If you have options, this would be a fine week to choose the ones that aren’t Will Smith or Charles Grant.

This pick is just for spite. Last week I recommended starting Shaun Ellis, and he rewarded me with another useless two-point performance. To heck with him.

Linebackers to sit

Surprisingly, the one bright spot in St. Louis this year is that they have not given up much to opposing linebackers. Julian Peterson has been pleasantly productive early on, but this week I think his production takes a little dip.

It should be less of a surprise that Green Bay also has been able to keep opposing linebackers in check. DeMarcus Ware is one of my favorite players in this league but this will not be his week.

Defensive Backs to sit

Philadelphia has a bunch of defensive backs that can come up big against even the toughest opponents. This abundance will certainly help the Eagles reach the real playoffs, but it leads to uncertainty for fantasy owners who may miss their playoffs if they guess incorrectly on which one to start. 

This week’s opponent, Pittsburgh, has established themselves as one of the best teams at taking good defensive backs out of the game. Between these two factors, I just don’t feel lucky enough to gamble on Brian Dawkins or Sheldon Brown.

Marcus Trufant is driving me nuts right now. I have invested heavily in him and still believe he has the stuff to emerge as a top five defensive back this year. In this case, however, I think I’m going to let him sit on my bench until he shows me something.

And finally, back to the game I can’t resist and to a couple players I can’t resist mentioning, both Daniel Bullocks and Leigh Bodden have won their starting jobs with the Lions.

Just in time to meet the league’s number one team against defensive backs. Yes, believe it or not, we are talking about San Francisco here. Be patient, their fantasy glory is still ahead of them this season.

Post your questions at the forums.

Week 3 IDPs Start/Sit